Split Beat 1965

Gene Davis created *Split Beat* using acrylic on canvas in a period where the legacies of abstract expressionism mingled with the rise of pop and op art. Davis, as a Washington D.C. based artist, stood somewhat outside the New York centric art world, allowing him to develop a unique voice within abstraction. This voice sings through the colorful vertical stripes that define this work, reflecting his deep interest in the parallels between visual art and music. "Color, for me, has to behave in a certain way...it has to move," Davis once said, and here, color certainly moves. The stripes, far from being static, create a rhythm, a visual tempo that plays with perception and emotion. It’s almost impossible not to feel the energy of the colors, the way they vibrate against each other. Each stripe is like a note in a musical composition, and together, they create a harmony that pulses with life.